Stropping device for safety razor blades



May 30,'- 1944. vc. w. s. LITTLE 2,350,241 STROPPING DEVICE FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Filed Oct. 20, 1942 ,l Y I l uhh 4\ 'um'. ABI. ,676. I 7 "s "E Eg /09 /42//5 I 6/f/ l 'vl r O I 'T ff@ y y/ /61 Patented May 30, 1944 STROPPING DEVICE FOR/SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Charles William Godson Enfield, England, by Barclays Little, deceased, late of Bank Limited,

executor, London, England, assignor to Francis Stanley Lowe, Shiplake, Henley-On-Thames,

England Application October 20, 1942, Serial No. 462,761

In Great Britain October 30, 1941 2 claims. rc1. 51-4153) rThis invention comprises improvements in or relating to stropping devices for safety razor blades.

In the prior British Patent specification No. 421,738 there is described a device of this nature.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved device embodying features which impart thereto a nice resilience during stropping while enabling a high reliability and efficiency of operation to be obtained and the construction to be simplified.

As will be realised the device is of somewhat similar construction to that described in the prior specification referred to but 'with the advantage that as the linger-heldoperating part is capable of resiliently yielding, it is possible to carry out the stropping with a nice feeling of resilience about the operation of the device. The resilience also makes for improved stropping as the pressure of the trailing edge of the blade on the strop is also of a desirably resilient nature.

A feature of the invention resides in making the finger-held operating part capable of resiliently yielding in a vertical direction, that is in a direction at right-angles to the direction in which the transverse movement takes place, when the device is rst applied to a strop in order to position such partl for leverage on the rocking device for the blade when the transverse movement takes place. ness of the feeling of resilience in using the device and gives desirably increased resilience in the stropping pressure.

In eiie'ct, the invention is thus able to provide what might be termed complete resilience of v operation of the device and it will be appreciated that altogether it makes for rather pleasing and very reliable and efficient stropping. At the same time the construction can be very simple as the finger-held operating part may be a single member capable of yielding resiliently in vertical and horizontal manner.

Forms of the present invention Will now be described by way of example `and with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure l is a plan of one form shown partly in section, carrying a safety razor blade, and applied to a strop.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section thereof with parts shown in elevation.

Figure 3 is a section, on a larger scale than Figures 1 and 2, taken on the line III-111 o'f Figure 2 and showing the blade rocked to bring its trailing edge into contact with the strop, vand Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional This furthers the nicei View of a second form also Figures 1 and 2.

According to Figures 1 to 3, the stropping device comprises a main body I bent to a closed hollow rectangular form in plan, Figure 1, and having a T Vform in elevation, Figure 2 (see also Figure 4 hereinafter described), the head of the T being constituted by lateral parts 2 which are bent as at 3 to a hollow rectangular shape, see Figure 3, to house the rocking device or lever hereinafter indicated. On this head of the main body is mounted a guard-frame 4 which is of substantially similar construction to that described in the aforesaid prior specification and is secured tothe head 2, 3 by bent-out end portions 5 thereof which are perforated for the passage of lugs 6 provided on the head and bent over against the parts 5. The guard frame 4 which may be said to constitute an auxiliary body part of the device, is suitably contoured internally to the shape of the double-edged razor blade 1 as seen in Figure 1 and the blade is mounted in the frame in pivotal blade-gripping means 8 which is of similar construction, and receives the blade and is constructed to rock within said frame in a similar manner, to that described in the prior'specific'atlon to which reference is directed for further details thereof. It need only be mentioned herein that the inner one of the trunnions 9 of the rockable bladegripping means 8 is journalled in a bent-in portion l0 of one of the head parts 2 of the main body I, see Figures 1 and 2 (also Figure 4), and has a rocking device in the form of a rocking lever II secured thereon Within the head of the main body I just on the inner side of the part I0. The rocking lever II, Figures 1 to 3, is slotted at I2 for engagement by a projection I3 on the free end of a iinger-held operating part It. The finger-hold iswprovided Aby a hollow handle I5 which is closed at one end and at the open end, where it may bel-formed with outwardly bent lateral lugs I6 hereinafter referred to, is slidably fitted on to the part I4 and non-revolubly secured thereon by forming it with diametricallyoppositely-disposed 'slots at I'I which are open at one end to passover and engage the handle with wings I8 on the part I4. The finger-held operating part I4 is shown in the form of a flat blade which is of spring steel or other like material. It has the projection I3 and the wings I8 at one end, nts for the greater Dart vof its length closely within the handle I5 to support the latter, and at the other end has a tail part formed with wings I9 which are engaged in slots Aon a larger-scale than `the horizontal `handle I than does in lug parts 2| bent from the sides of the main body I. From Figures 1 and 2, it will be seen that the wings I9 nt the slots 20 laterally but are capable of play in the longitudinal direction of the slots, while the extreme end of the tail part projects into a coil spring 22 which is placed under compression between such tail part and the adjacent end of the main body I. l

In the use of the stropping device shown in Figures 1 to 3, the device with the blade' 'I mounted therein is taken by the handle l5 and placed with the guard-frame 4 atwise, on a strop 23 and moved to and fro on the strop as indicated by the arrows in Figure 3. In thus applying the device to the strop there would, of course, be a natural tendency to exert downward pressure on the handle and it will be realised that the handle will be canted in a vertical plane under this pressure to a position such as is shown in Figure 2 in which its In the depressing movement, the finger-held operating part I4 inclines with the handle but the movement is only able to take place against the resilient action of the coil spring E2, the wings I9 moving longitudinally of the slots 2i) of the main body during such movement and eventually coming to a stop against the opposite ends of the respective slots 20 to determine the amount of depression of the inner end of the handle as will be apparent from Figure 2. As a result of the depression of the inner end of the handle, the projection I3 on the part I4 is moved down to the bottom of the slot I2 of the rocking lever Immediately, of course, the natural tendency is to move the device along the strop and in doing this the handle suitably cants horizontally and constrains the inner end oi the part I4 to move with it owing to the engagement of the slots of the handle at I1 .with the wings I8. The wings I9, however, at the tail end of the part I4 fit laterally in the slots 20. `As a result, therefore, the part I4, can only yield resiliently with cant of the handle. In this movement, which is an initial movement of the part I4 transversely in relation to the main body I, the projection I3 rocks the rocking lever II and causes the blade to rock on its longitudinal axis about the trunnions 9 of the blade-gripping means 8, so as to bring the trailing edge of the blade on to the strop (see Figure 3) and cause it to be stropped during the ensuing movement of the stropping device along the strop. The resilience of the part I4 is such as to provide less resistance during horizontal canting of the the friction between the strop and the guard-frame 4 and as a result, the blade is bound to be rocked to bring its trailing edge into contact with the strop before the device moves along the strop. As` soon as the handle has initially canted horizontally with the resilience referred to andthe blade has rocked as stated, the device commences to move along the strop. If desired the lugs I6 may be such as eventually to come, one or other, against the parts 5 of the guard-frame so as to assist in this movement of the device along the-strop. The

lugs I5 also form a convenient hold for the thumb and rst nger of the hand on the handle I 5. On return movement of the device along the strop the reverse actions take place as will be understood and when stropping is finished and the device removed from the strop the resilience of the part I4 and the action of the spring 22 cause the handle to be aligned with inner end is depressed.

the main body l as it was originally. The action is similar whether the device is used with one face or the other of the guard frame 4 in contact with the strop as will be understood.

In the form illustrated by Figure 4, wherein the guard-frame 4 and the blade 1 are broken away and the strop is not shown, the construction is very similar to that seen in Figures 1 to 3 and similar parts in the several gures are similarly numbered. However, in Figure 4, instead of using a coil spring for providing for resilience in the movement of the part I4 in the vertical plane, a flat or leaf form of spring 24 is used which is mounted on the outer end of the main body I by a bolt or screw 25 and has ends 26 bent into the path of movement of the wings I9 of the ringer-held operating part I4. Also, instead of a lever form of rocking device II, a cylindrical rocking device 21 is used which may have a vertical slot for engagement by the projection I3 on the finger-held operating part I4, or may be of sleeve form slotted at diametrically opposite points, one slot or the other being engaged by the projection I3 according to whether the stropping device is used with one face or the other of the guard frame 4 applied in contact with the strop. It is 'believed that the action of this form of device will be understood without further description.

In both forms of the stropping device thus described, the resilience makes for improved operation and improved stropping and there is a niceness of movement of the device and a cleanness of stropping which will be highly appreciated by the keen shaver.

The spring 22 or 24 maintains the blade gripping means normally in its mid-position so that the blade lies within the guard frame and its edge will not come into contact with another object, for example the strop, and damage either itself or said object. The said in the application of the correct pressure to ensure satisfactory stropping.

What is claimed is:

l. Device for stropping safety razor blades, comprising a body, a blade holder pivotally mounted upon said body in such manner as to be capable of rocking about its longitudinal axis, a rocking device connected to said blade holder, a finger-held operating part of spring blade form having one end in operative relation with said rocking device, means for mounting said part by its other end in said body in such manner that said one end is capable of resiliently yielding in a direction at right-angles to the plane of said part and said part is capable of moving in said plane to engage with said rocking `device on one or the opposite side of the pivotal axis of said rocking device, and a spring mounted to be operative between said body and said part 0n said moving of said part in said plane so that such moving takes place against resistance of said spring,- y, 2. stropping device according to claim l, and further comprising a hollow handle fitted to the linger-held operating part in engagement with the opposite longitudinal edge portions of such part, said handle and edge portions being posiively engaged with one another so that the handie is non-revoluble with respect to said part.

, FERCY JOHN DIBOLL,

Secretary of Barclays Bank Limited, Eecutofr for the Estate of Charles William Godson Little,

Deceased.

spring also assists 

